ITI courses pursued after completion of Class VIII will now be treated as equivalent to Class X to enable students to continue further studies.
A decision in this regard was taken at the first meeting of National Skill Council, attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said.
The move will give the students "vertical mobility", he said.
Similarly, ITIs courses after clearing of Class X examination will be equal to Class XII.
Fadnavis said as skill development institutions are coming up, changes are required to be made in the UGC guidelines as the needs of these specialised universities are different from regular varsities.
He also said that those trained under the Skill Development Programme should be given easier access to loans under schemes like Mudra Yojana.
